The Rise and Fall of English

Reconstructing English as a Discipline

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Education & Teaching, Educational Theory, Educational Reform
Cover of the book The Rise and Fall of English by Robert Scholes, Yale University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Robert Scholes ISBN: 9780300128895
Publisher: Yale University Press Publication: October 1, 2008
Imprint: Yale University Press Language: English
Author: Robert Scholes
ISBN: 9780300128895
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication: October 1, 2008
Imprint: Yale University Press
Language: English
In this lucid book an eminent scholar, teacher, and author takes a critical look at the nature and direction of English studies in America. Robert Scholes offers a thoughtful and witty intervention in current debates about educational and cultural values and goals, showing how English came to occupy its present place in our educational system, diagnosing the educational illness he perceives in today’s English departments, and recommending theoretical and practical changes in the field of English studies. Scholes’s position defies neat labels-it is a deeply conservative expression of the wish to preserve the best in the English tradition of verbal and textual studies, yet it is a radical argument for reconstruction of the discipline of English.

The book begins by examining the history of the rapid rise of English at two American universities-Yale and Brown-at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. Scholes argues that the subsequent fall of English-discernible today in college English departments across the United States-is the result of both cultural shifts and changes within the field of English itself. He calls for a fundamental reorientation of the discipline-away from political or highly theoretical issues, away from a specific canon of texts, and toward a canon of methods, to be used in the process of learning how to situate, compose, and read a text. He offers an eloquent proposal for a discipline based on rhetoric and the teaching of reading and writing over a broad range of literatures, a discipline that includes literariness but is not limited to it.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
In this lucid book an eminent scholar, teacher, and author takes a critical look at the nature and direction of English studies in America. Robert Scholes offers a thoughtful and witty intervention in current debates about educational and cultural values and goals, showing how English came to occupy its present place in our educational system, diagnosing the educational illness he perceives in today’s English departments, and recommending theoretical and practical changes in the field of English studies. Scholes’s position defies neat labels-it is a deeply conservative expression of the wish to preserve the best in the English tradition of verbal and textual studies, yet it is a radical argument for reconstruction of the discipline of English.

The book begins by examining the history of the rapid rise of English at two American universities-Yale and Brown-at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. Scholes argues that the subsequent fall of English-discernible today in college English departments across the United States-is the result of both cultural shifts and changes within the field of English itself. He calls for a fundamental reorientation of the discipline-away from political or highly theoretical issues, away from a specific canon of texts, and toward a canon of methods, to be used in the process of learning how to situate, compose, and read a text. He offers an eloquent proposal for a discipline based on rhetoric and the teaching of reading and writing over a broad range of literatures, a discipline that includes literariness but is not limited to it.

More books from Yale University Press

Cover of the book In the Company of Crows and Ravens by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book Everyday Mysticism by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book Stalin and the Lubianka by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book The Struggle for Iraq's Future by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book The Spartan Regime by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book The New Continentalism: Energy and Twenty-First-Century Eurasian Geopolitics by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book Libraries in the Ancient World by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book On Democracy by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book Vietnam: A Natural History by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book The Making of the English Gardener: Plants, Books and Inspiration, 1560-1660 by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book Diary, 1901-1969 by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book Quest for Status by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book How to Change the World: Reflections on Marx and Marxism by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book Dangerous Years by Robert Scholes
Cover of the book The Unity of Christ: Continuity and Conflict in Patristic Tradition by Robert Scholes
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy